Race to the Finish
by Alanis Strife
Summary: After taking a nasty fall, Akihito's mom reveals a secret that has been buried within her son's memory for a decade. Now old friends from his past are in need of his help to free themselves from an old rival. Will Akihito reach the finish line in time to save them? Asami/Akihito. Do I even need to warn you it's yaoi?
1. It's a fine day for racing

Title: Race to the Finish

Rating: M (Mostly just be safe for now. It'll earn the M in later chapters)

Pairing: Asami/Akihito (past Akihito/FEM-OC)

Summary: After taking a nasty fall, Akihito's mom reveals a secret that has been buried within her son's memory for a decade. Now old friends from his past are in need of his help to free themselves from an old rival. Will Akihito reach the finish line in time to save them?

AN: This is for Isabella1948's prompt where Akihito has a secret past. It's not exactly what they wanted, but I might not have wrote this if not for them, so please read their work (especially if you're a fan of Mpreg) and tell them thank you in a review. This story takes place roughly three years after the canon story currently being played out.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this _FANFICTION_ except the OCs.

* * *

Year: 2002

It was fairly late at night, with the lights turned down low, and a sixteen year old male was sleeping peacefully on top of the bed. Never once paying attention to the sound of insistent beeping, the wires and sensors that attached the beeping device to himself, or of the needle that was inserted into his left arm and the tube that ran between the needle and the I.V. bag. The boy had light sandy colored hair and, when opened, the most beautiful hazel eyes that anyone should be so lucky as to gaze upon. The young man was one Takaba Akihito, recuperating in the hospital after a terrible car crash. If it weren't for the medical equipment that was hooked up to him, (or the various cuts, bruises, bandages wrapped around various places over his body, and the cast around his right arm) he would make the perfect picture of a sleeping angel.

At least that's what the young woman in the room, watching over him, believed. The tears of sheer relief in knowing that her friend was going to pull through, and the sorrow that she felt for what she was about to do, flowed unhindered down her face. If any other, conscious, person was in the room they'd be able to see her long flowing morning gold hair and sad emerald green eyes and swear that she was the personification of a somber dawn rising. Subconsciously, she moved her left hand to place it on her stomach as she continue to gaze at the boy. She closed her eyes, and took a deep calming breath, before opening them up once more. Sadness remained, but her eyes also now held a strong resolve within them.

Gently petting her right hand through Akihito's hair, The seventeen year old woman told the slumbering angel; "You no longer have a place in our world. Goodby." With that she turned around and began to head out the door. Just before she left, however, she glanced behind herself one more time. Eyes and voice trembled in pure anguish as she whispered. "I'm sorry."

* * *

Ten years later:

Akihito was sitting in the back of a posh limo, pouting. Yet again his lover, one Asami Ryuichi, a man with short midnight black hair and sinfully golden eyes, had managed to track him down and have his men catch Akihito. The boy, well technically man seeing as how he is twenty six yet still a child when compared to the imposing man sitting before him, glared at Asami. "Dammit you bastard. I wasn't even trying to take pictures of anything that has to do with your business, I was on my way to a photo shoot!"

Ah yes, Asami's "business". On the surface Asami was well known entrepreneur that owned numerous high class (i.e. exclusive and expensive to get in) night clubs, the most famous being 'Club Sion,' all over Shinjuku. However, What Asami really was was head of his own criminal empire. If you wanted drugs, weapons, anything illegal really he was the man to go to in Shinjuku. Maybe all of Japan.

Asami glanced up from the paper work he was looking through and smirked at "his kitten". Honestly, if anyone would have told the man a few years ago that he would catch this brash, crude, passionate, photo journalist (who, in any other reality, should be considered an enemy because of the boy's occupation and how it could threaten Asami's own) and then how he would proceed to fall in love with the boy. Asami would probably have shot that person.

"I know, I'm the one renting the space out to the modeling agency that hired you for the shoot. I just thought it would make sense that we head to work together." Asami coolly replied. Akihito's eyes widen in shock before he glared once again. To bad, or maybe thank goodness depending on who you are, that Akihito's impending temper tantrum was put a stop to before it even started, thanks to the sudden lurch that the limo took. Asami narrowed his eyes as he rolled the window that separated him from the front down. "What happened?"

It was the dark haired man with glasses, Kirishima, who answered the Yakuza. "It would appear that there is something wrong with the engine. Suoh has already walked out to try to see what the problem cou-" He was cut off by the sounds of a lot of hot steam rushing out from under the now opened hood and the loud exclamation of pain and frustration from his blond counterpart. The three remaining men exit the vehicle to see what could make the normally composed Suoh curse like that.

While Asami and Kirishima looked over Suoh's now slightly red hands, Akihito pulled out the bandana that he was in the habit of taking with him to every job he goes, and used it to wave the remaining steam from the engine away. What he saw surprised, and oddly enough angered, him.

"Who the Hell is in charge of keeping this thing running?! Whoever it is needs to be fired... Both figurative and literally! This engine is a mess! Look at all the dirt and grime coating everything. No wonder it overheated!" Using the bandana Akihito pulls out what appears to be a long, thin, metal stick. "NO OIL?! Who the fuck doesn't check to make sure the damn car has oil?! This is not how you treat such a beautiful piece of machinery! And don't get me started on the fan belt!"

Once the photographer finished his rant, Asami looked to Kirishima and ordered him to find out just who it was indeed that let his _favorite_ limo get into such shape. Seriously, the men were lucky that the club was just barely a block away so that they can simply walk the rest of the way, though they had to physically pull the photographer away to do so. The Yakuza noticing that his kitten was still fuming while muttering to himself about whatever else it was that he notice was wrong with the engine. Something about the transmission is most likely in bad shape as well. Smirking, Asami commented; "Since when did you become a mechanic Akihito? From the way you were acting just now, I'd thought you would start demanding for tools to work on the limo yourself."

Akihito paused. Looking at his lover with confusion written all over his face. "What are you talking about Asami? I.." Akihito grabbed his head with one of his hands, never noticing how his eyes seem to glaze over or that Asami's narrowed in both suspension and concern. "I've never worked on a car in my life. I don't even know how to drive."

* * *

AN2: Yes, as you may have guessed by now, the theme for this fic is tied to cars (racing, not that damn movie. not one of pixar's best in my opinion.) and amnesia. I hope everyone who reads this fic will enjoy it. RTTF should only be about seven chapters long, and I will be updating it every Saturday or Sunday until it's done.

Also, I managed to post the prologue one day before my Birthday. One day ahead of my goal, BONUS!


	2. Racers please report to the startingline

**AN:** What more is there for me to say except "Here's the next chapter so enjoy!"?

**Disclaimer:** Second verse, same as the first! (In other words; I DO NOT own anything, or anyone, in this fic except the OCs.)

* * *

**Chapter 01:**

Akihito sighed to himself as he stretched and relaxed into the couch in his and Asami's condo apartment. Man was he glad that that photo shoot was over. It may pay better, but he hated to work with models. They were all such spoiled divas. Not to mention that he's had a dull headache since that morning, after the limo incident, that has just gotten worse as the day went on. Though he convinced himself that it was all probably stress related. '_Why does working with models take more out of me then a 24hrs stakeout?_' Before he realizes it, Akihito has fallen asleep.

***~DREAM BEGINS~***

_ Akihito looks around himself and notices that he's in a garage, like the kind a professional may have. He walks into this little closed off area that has two, old and well worn, couches, a coffee table that appeared to have been dragged out of a dumpster with a small boom box sitting on top playing music (_"Show me what it's for! Make me understand it! I've been crawling in the dark, looking for the answers..."_), a few quad chairs, and a used t.v. on top of a equally used desk. Exploring the area, he sees a cooler with a varity of different sodas floating in water and ice._

_ "Ha ha ha ha! How the Hell does Sakura and Kero let Tomoya talk them into wearing some of those outfits? Ha ha ha!" Akihito jumped and turned to the voice he just heard. There on one of the, just moments ago empty, couches was a girl that couldn't have been older than sixteen. She had mostly long morning gold blond hair that she was keeping in a braid, the shorter bangs and hair on the sides of her head seem to spike out a little. He couldn't see her eyes, or much of her face at all for that matter, sense she was too busy reading some kind of manga. She was wearing a coal gray tank top, well worn light blue jeans, and black steel toe boots. All of which were covered in various oil, paint, and whatever else kind of grime stains._

_ Looking down at himself, Akihito realized he was dressed in a much similar fashion. Only he was wearing a, what used to be, white T-shirt and darker colored jeans. Also noting that he was a teenager himself. Glancing at the girl again, he felt his lips move into an easy smile._

_ "Don't you think you're a little old for _Card Captor Sakura_?" He asked his companion. He could tell she was pouting. "Hey! _CLAMP_'s work is timeless and meant to be enjoyed by ALL ages!" was her reply. The photographer (or was that mechanic?) shook his head in fond exasperation as he took a seat in the quad chair closest to the young woman._

_ "You know something Aki-kun?" "What?" "Someday, if I become a mom, I'm going to name my first born _Yamainu_; Even if the kid's a girl." Akihito turned to his friend. Seeing that she still had her face buried in her manga. "Why?" She finally looked up to answer him, revealing emerald green eyes full of mischief and laughter. "Because, boy or girl, they're going to be my little 'Wolf'."_

***~DREAM ENDS~***

The sudden ringing of his smart phone woke Akihito up from his nap. Wired dream... He thought to himself as he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"_Is this Takaba Juri's son, Akihito?_" "Yes, who is this?" "_I'm Doctor Kanbara, over at Shibuya Memorial Hospital._" Akihito let out a silent gasp as he sat up straighter. "Is mom okay? No, of course she's not okay if she's in the hospital! Is-" "_Calm down Takaba-kun. Your mother is going to be fine. She had a nasty fall down a flight of stairs and hit her head, but she is doing well and regained consciousness long before the paramedics arrived for her. Though we are going to keep her here over night just to make sure she doesn't have a concussion. Personally though I doubt Juri-san does_."

And just like that, Akihito lets out a breath of relief and sags back into the couch. "Than God. She's the only family I got left. If any thing happened..." He trailed off. Dr. Kanbara began speaking again. "_Yes. She asked me that if you could come see her, and if you could make a stop at her apartment she wanted you to... Oh hold on_" The faint sound of cloth rustling and then paper crinkling assaulted the younger man's ears.

"_Ah, here we go. She wanted you to 'Go in her room and grab a green (?) colored box that she keeps in the bottom drawer in her nightstand. And no peaking until you get here.' You got all that?_" Nodding at first until he figured out that the doctor on the other end couldn't see him, Akihito replied with a "Got it, tell her I'll be there soon. Thanks and bye." After hanging up the sandy blond looked himself over to make sure he was presentable, and seeing that he was, went to put on his shoes on his way out.

Seeing Kenji, the guard that Asami assigned to him today, was standing outside the apartment door Akihito smiled at him. At first Kenji gave him a wary expression, obviously wondering what trouble the boy was up to now. But his boss's lover merely rolled his eyes and explained. "I'm not up to anything suspicious. I just need a ride to Shibuya. First my mom's, then the hospital." "The hospital?" "I'll explain on the way."

**A few hours later:**

Akihito made his way to his mother's room on the third floor. Kenji trailing behind holding the green box his mother asked for. Seeing that the door to her room was open, Takaba just waltzed right in. "Knock, knock." Laying on the bed in an upright position was a woman in her mid 50s, but barely looked a day over 40. Only the few gray hairs and wisdom in her hazel eyes, very similar to her son's own, gave her true age away.

"Koneko-chan! ("MOM! Don't call me that!") So good to see you. Even if I did have to wind up in the hospital to do so." Suddenly looking every bit the scolded child that he was, the young man mumbled an apology. Kenji sitting the box down on the table by the bed, then promptly exiting to stand outside the now closed door. '_Most likely to give the bastard an update about this outing._'

"Well take seat and open the box." His mother told him. Which he obeyed immediately. Juri watched on as her precious son opened the box to discover one of the two photo albums with in it. "Hand me the one on top, leave the other in there for now." She instructed. Once again doing what his mother said, Akihito placed the album in her lap as he made himself comfortable on her bed as well.

At once the Takabas began laughing joyously as the first picture in the book reviled itself. It was of Akihito's 12th birthday party at a park playground, where his father accidentally dropped a plate he was handing to one of the guests, which was full of cake and ice cream, right on the birthday boy's head. "I _still_ think he did that on purpose!" Akihito grinned.

Juri smiled as she and her boy continued to look through the old picture book. But the further along they went, the more she was having to force her smile to stay on her face. Because as they kept flipping pages, she knew her son was beginning to notice just how... bare the album actually was. Her stomach felt like it was twisting in knots.

Akihito did in fact realized that many of the pages appeared to be missing pictures. Pictures that were once obviously there, if the glue and slight tearing was anything to go by, at one time. But had for whatever reason been removed. "Mom...?"

Juri sighed sadly. She knew right from the start that she had been completely selfish and deceptive towards her son. But all she wanted was to keep him safe. '_No, that's not completely true. I wanted to keep him my little boy. Just a bit longer._'

"You want to know why all the missing pictures, don't you." It was a statement, not a question. At Akihito's nod she told him to hand her the second album. He did and they opened it. The first picture, again, featured a 12yrs old Akihito at his birthday party. Only this time it was of him _after_ the plate incident. He and three other preteens that he couldn't recognize were chasing his father around with a fierce determination, while holding water guns and water balloons. Honestly, any other time Akihito would laugh at such a photo. But his confusion over the identity of the other children kept him from doing so.

"The truth is, your father had planned to 'drop' the plate on you from the start. Kisuke had such a warped sense of humor. But then all the guests at the party began to laugh at you and you were so embarrassed that you began to cry..." Juri was interrupted by her son. "Which only made them laugh harder. Some even started to point at me and call me a cry baby." The mother nodded. "I'm afraid so. _That_ was never your father's intention.

"Anyway a group of children, who had seen the whole thing, were playing nearby. They weren't invited to the party, just happened to be there in that area of the park. Walked up to where we were. At first I was worried that they were going to pick on you too, and was ready to chase them away when the girl..." Here Juri pointed at the blond tomboy in the photo. "Just handed you the larger of the two water guns she was holding, pointed at Kisuke, and said to you '**Well? What are you waiting for? LET'S GET THEM!**' She and the two other kids following you were the ones to go after your dad. The remaining four targeted the other guests and there parents."

The younger Takaba's eyes widen in shock. "**No kid should be made fun of, least of all, on their own birthday.**" Was the explanation that the blond girl had given him when he asked "Why?". After a pause, Juri continued.

"Obviously the kids that had been invited, as well as their parents, were not too happy about that turn of events. So much so that they even took back all the presents that they brought you, not that either you or I cared at that point, and left. Saying that they would never allow there children to play with you again." She chuckled a bit at the memory. "It was at that point one of the kids that helped you screamed '**GOOD! Who needs fair weather friends anyway?**' Turning to you he finished, '**Don't worry man, we'll have your back from now on.**'

"The eight of you played for the rest of the day while I made your father clean up the mess all by himself. I told him from the start that prank was a bad idea. When their families came to get them, I explained what happened, and together we worked out a plan to give you do-over birthday party the same time the following weekend."

Akihito was speechless. The rest of the time he was there, he and his mother went over the rest of the second album. The final picture was of him and the tomboy, '_Ayase_' his mind provided, with one arm wraped around eachother's shoulders smiling at the camera while kneeling infront of a modifided 1999 Honda Civic. It was mostly dark bue, almost black, with a painting of a snarling white wolf on the hood.

"That was your baby, Beowulf." "_My_ baby?! That fine piece of art and machine?" Juri had a soft look on her face as she explained. "Thats right. Believe it or not, there was a time when photography wasn't the center of your world. In fact, you're biggest ambition in life was to start your own garage that specialized in cutomizations. Your bigest passion was raceing or difting. A dream and passion that you shared with the other members of your 'Pack', as you kids were often refered to as. Seeing as how you were tighter than a pack of wolves."

"But..." Akihito swallowed. "I don't know how to work on cars. I don't even know how to **drive**! And these people, this 'Pack', if they are really so important, if I really spent as much time with them as you said, why don't I remember them?!"

Juri looked down at her lap in shame, as tears began to form in her eyes. "I assure you Akihito, these people were your friends. I dare say that Ayase was your best friend. And you were all so good at what you did. You kids even found an old, closed down garage, and turned it into your own private paradise. After your father died, they started living in our home in shifts for over a month, just so they could help the both of us through it all.

"I loved your friends, don't get me wrong, but I never liked it when you kids would get in those races of yours. Every night, especialy after your father died, I would stay up late and worry. '_What if they get caught by the police? What if they're arrested? What if there was an accident? What if someone got hurt? What if Akihito __**died**__?_' Those questions would repeat over and over in my mind until either you'd come home or call to tell me that you were alright and was staying the night in the shop.

"But then one night after you turned 16 I got a call, it was your friend Rindou. He told me that there had been a crash during a race, and that you were hurt. I was so frightened. I rushed to the hospital as quick as I could and found out the damage..."

At this point, Akihito had to interrupt her. "The accident I was in? You told me someone had hit me!" Juri flinched at the accusation in her son's words, but did not deny them. "I know, and it was a half truth. You _were_ hit by a car, I just never told you that you were drifting in another car when it happened."

The younger Takaba had to get up from where he was sitting. He started pacing around the room. Trying his hardest to absorb what his mother was telling him. "Why? Why lie to me? Why keep... my life a secret from me? Why can't I remember the people who were obviously so close to me? Where were they **after** the accident?!" He didn't realize that he had raised his voice. Making Kenji and the other person who had joined him at somepoint crack the door to the room open a little more so they could hear what was being said.

"According to the doctors that treated you, you don't remember because of the injury you sustained to your head. But the truth is.. the truth..." Here Juri had to take a deep breath so she could continue.

"You don't remember anything that has to do with the pack, because I prayed that you wouldn't."

"What." Was all Akihito was able to, barely, say.

"Please understand Akihito. I had just lost your father the year before, I couldn't bare the _thought_ of losing you as well. I became afraid of anything that could take you away from me, and the things I became afraid of I started to hate with all my being.

"So all night, while sitting in that waiting room with your friends around me, trying to comfort and assure me that everything would be okay; I prayed that not only would you recover, but that something would happen that would keep these people, their cars, their way of life, away from you. Something, anything, I could use to protect you. To keep you to myself and away from, what I had perceived then as, a threat to you.

"And my prayers were answered. You came too the next day. Both Ayase and I were in your room at the time. You looked at me and said '_Hey mom, don't know why I'm here, but I hope I didn't worry you._' Ayase smiled at you and told you that there was an accident. But you just looked at her and asked '_who are you?_'

"The look of shock and hurt that crossed her face... I can say it now that it will haunt me for the rest of my life, amongst other things. But at that moment I didn't care. Before anyone could stop me I told you that she was simply a good Samaritan that stayed with you after the accident and called the paramedics.

"It didn't take any of us long to find out that you could remember everything in your life _but_ Ayase and your pack. I went to them and told them that they were to have nothing more to do with you. That since you have forgotten everything about them that that must mean that _you_ wanted nothing more to do with them." Juri began to cry, as she buried her face in her hands.

"I told the very children that I had viewed at the least as my nieces and nephews, at the most the brothers and sisters I could never give you, right to there faces for them to get out of our lives. Naturally they tried to reason with me, begging me to allow them to continue their friendship with you. But I wouldn't listen. In the end they agreed with me. I guess they just couldn't fight with me anymore. They said they would honor my wishes if, the next time you were asleep, they would be allowed to come see you one at a time and tell you goodbye. It was as if I was watching them pay their final respects to you! I'm so sorry!"

Akihito just watched as his mother broke down into sobs. Far too numb to do anything to comfort her. What could he do? How should he feel? "Why tell me all this _now_." He asked with no emotion. "Because." The elder Takaba sighed. "After my fall, all I could think about was you. How I've betrayed you and your friends. And that if I should die before telling you the truth I would never find peace in the afterlife."

A nurse walked by at that moment to inform them that visiting hours were up. Akihito just vaguely waved as a sign of acknowledgment. "I... I need to go now mom." "I know koneko-chan. I understand if you're not here when I'm discharged tomorrow." Again, all that the sandy blond male could do was nod and walk out the door.

Asami was standing there waiting for his kitten. He didn't know about everything that the Takabas had talked about. But he did over hear enough to know that Takaba-san had upset Akihito. Slowly his boy raised his head up to meet the Yakuza's eyes, the look of sorrow and betrayal in Akihito's eyes were all consuming, and Asami felt his black heart clinch at the sight. Trembling Akihito reached out with both hands to Asami, and the amber eyed man quickly enveloped him into his arms as Akihito began to cry.

The words "_Goodbye._" and "_I'm so sorry._", being spoken in a young woman's voice, were repeating in Akihito's head.

* * *

AN2: For the record; I have written an overview for what I want to happen in each chapter that I write. Because of this there will be no consistency in chapter lengths. Some chaps will be shorter, some longer than the others. But all will be at least 1,000 words.

Thanks again for reading, I hope you liked it!


	3. Start you engines

**AN:** This one's a doozy people, so please bare with me...

Firstly; I like to say thank you to everyone who even bothers to read my fic, let alone review/fav/follow it. You guys are friggin AWESOME! I also appreciate when you guys review or PM me when I need to be corrected on something, it keeps me on my toes.

Do you have any idea how badly this chapter did NOT want to be written? Even with an overview in place of what I wanted to happen in this chapter, it fought tooth and nail to stay just an idea in my brain. Well...  
**FUCK YOU CHAPTER 3! I DRAGGED YOU OUT OF MY HEAD AND WROTE YOU ANYWAY! HA!**

Also Miyanoai has brought it to my attention that Akihito is 23 in the canon, not 26. So my timeline for this story is off since it's suppose to take place roughly six months after whats happening in the manga right now. Honestly, I read somewhere that he was 25 so that's why I said 26 in my fic. According to Whoever said Aki-chan was 25 was wrong, and now I look like an idiot. So for the sake of this fic I'm changing the timeline to 3yrs after canon, not 6 months. I'll correct that error in the prologue's AN later.

Finally Fae Pyre sent me a pm to tell me that "Yamainu" does not mean 'Wolf', Ookami does. Well they're half right. RomajiDesu's definition of Yamainu reads; "やまいぬ Yamainu(n) Japanese wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax, extinct) wild dog" I chose this over Ookami because not only is it a breed of wolf, and a very interesting looking one at that (seriously, go to Google and type "Canis lupus hodophilax" in the search bar. ), but because it has the term "wild dog" in it's translation.

**Disclaimer:** I no own, so you no sue. (except the OCs. They are mine.)

* * *

Chapter 03: (Start you engines)

A garage is a place where there is constant noise and activity, especially one of this size and caliber. Normally the only time it is quiet is when business hours were over and everyone has gone home for the night. But not today. It was only a little after 11AM, business started at 9:30AM, and the whole building was silent. In the center of the room stood two groups of people.

One group was filled with about Thirteen big, burly, men in well tailored business suits. There leader was a man that was a bit smaller than the others by comparison. He had long hair kept in a slicked back ponytail and wore a pristine white suit. His hair and eyes both the disgusting color that water in a cup turns into when it was used to clean off various different paints off of paint brushes. He was smirking in dark victory at the other group of people.

The Second group, or "Pack" as they liked to be called, of people didn't look any where near as organized as the first. Most were either casually dressed in comfortable shirts and pants of varying colors and styles. While the others were wearing full piece jumpsuits that most mechanics were known for. The only two things that these people had in common with there chosen apparel was that they were all wearing some kind of brand of steel toe boots, and that they were all covered in various oil, paint, and grime stains. There alpha was a 27 yrs old woman with long morning gold hair that was currently in a braid. Her head was protected by a navy blue bandanna. She was wearing a black tank top under a navy blue jumpsuit that she only had partially zipped. Her emerald green eyes glaring fiercely at the man in white. She knew that while her pack had these men out numbered, by like two to one, these men had them out gunned.

"Well Ayase-chan, what do you think of my business proposal?" The gang leader asked smugly. "Not interested, And the name's Gyousei to you Shishio." Was The woman, Ayase's, reply. "Are you sure? And come on sense when have we been formal with each other? There was a time when you simply called me Koga." The now named Shishio said.

"There was also a time that I called you 'friend' as well. But that time has long sense past. Ever sense you tried to betray us and left to go play Yakuza-wannabe." It was Ayase's turn to smirk as Shishio frowned at her remark. Though the victory is short lived as Shishio smiles cruelly again. "Well, that's too bad. I guess we'll have to do things the hard way." Shishio turns to his men to give them his orders. "Round up all my new puppies and bring them before me. Oh, and if any try to run away, kill them. We don't want them running outside barking for help now do we?"

While all this was taking place, two other members from the pack was watching what was going down. The first was an 18yrs old male with spkiey dark hair and eyes in a jumpsuit much like his alpha's, only he had his zipped up completely. The second was a nine year old girl that could have been a perfect mini clone of her mother if it was not for the fact that she had hazel eyes instead of emerald. Both of her ears were pierced as well. In her right was a horseshoe earring with blue beads at both ends, and in her left was the 'Cloudy Wolf' earring that one of her friends gave her for Christmas recently.

The boy quickly grabbed the little girl when the thugs began to advance. He rushed desperately to the closest exit he could find. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that those guys can never get their blood stained hands on his boss's precious little wolf.

**"HEY YOU! STOP RIGHT THERE!"**

'_Shiiiiiiiit!_' But the boy didn't stop. He kept running. Even as he heard gunshots go off he kept running. Even as he felt some of those bullets enter his flesh he kept going. It was only after he made it outside and got maybe three blocks away did he stop. He quickly ducked into an alleyway and sat the girl down. "Are you alright?" He had asked.

"Y-Yes. I'm fine. The b-bullets nev-ver touched m-me." Was the girls shaky reply. Not that the young man could blame her. Too bad he knew they weren't out of danger just yet. Giving her a big, though obviously forced and full of pain, smile he told the child. "Good. Now listen to me Yamainu, I need you to keep running. Keep running and don't look back. And above all else, do NOT head back to the garage. Do you understand? I want you to find someplace safe for you to hide. I promise that when this is all over either myself or one of the others will come find you. For now you take off that way..." He points to the opposite end of the ally that they entered. "And I'll run the other. Okay? On your marks, get set... GO!" As quick as a flash the child did as she was told.

'_Please be safe and keep your promise... Zax._' Was what Yamainu thought to herself.

Zax smiled sadly to himself. He knew he'd never see the little girl, or any of his pack mates again. '_As long as spikey can at least make it out alive..._' "Well, Time to be the hero!" Though it was painful, Zax managed to run out the way he came in. He made it another half a block before the thugs from the garage caught up to him and finished the job. The men had to give the teen some credit. He died with a smile on his face.

*~*~*

On a quiet, out of the way, country road that night, Miroku was driving a large semi truck that was packed with it's precious cargo. What was it? He dared not ask, his employers were paying him to drive not ask questions. So he was just doing his job while listening to the radio wide open. So lost in the music, he didn't notice the five, black, souped up cars that were quickly approaching him from behind.

The first sign for him that there was trouble was when one of the cars pulled out in front of him and slowed down a little. Miroku was quick to match the car's speed, all the while cursing at it. He saw that it's emergency blinkers came on as it slowed to a stop. He at first looked at his rear-view mirror to see if he could pass, he couldn't due to the two other cars that were moving to pass him, so he was forced to stop as well.

'_What the hell is the problem?_' Miroku thought to himself.

It all happened so fast. One moment he's opening his door to see if the person(s?) in the vehicle in front of him needed any assistance. The next, his door was forced open and he was staring at the barrel of the glock that was held by someone wareing a black ninja mask.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll quietly get out and wait on the side of the road here." Said the imposing figure in a male voice. Miroku nodded eagerly and did as he was told. He watched as his employer's cargo was driven away with a sinking feeling in his gut. He pulled out his phone and called the person listed as "Dragon King" in his contacts list. The man was **NOT** going to be happy.

*~*~*

Akihito practically shoots off the bed as he wakes from what had to be the most...disturbing dream to date. Just a few years earlier, he would have consider it a wet dream. It had started off with him and Ayase staring at each other with flushed faces before they began to kiss and touch each other. Akihito woke up just as the dream him removed Ayase's shirt.

'_What. The. __**FUCK?!**_'

It had been less than a week since Takaba Juri's fall and resulting confession to her son about his lost... Could he just call them lost memories? If anything it felt more like a lost lifetime. Honestly, it felt more as if he was watching an alternate universe version of himself in those dreams. Or maybe he really had died in that accident, and the Akihito that he is now is that other one's reincarnation.

Akihito only had a few dreams about his missing past since his visit to the hospital. And with the exception of the first one, in all of his dreams until now, it involved himself, Ayase, and all of there other friends just doing whatever together. It had not been just him and Ayase alone. Even his mother whom he called (glancing at the clock by the bed) yesterday had told him that he and the blond tomboy were hardly, if ever, alone with each other. Though, all things considering, maybe the elder Takaba wasn't the best source of information.

At any rate, until tonight the photographer was under the impression that he had a strictly sibling-like relationship with all of the pack members, including Ayase. Never once was he given a hint that they might have been more than friends.

While Akihito was lost in his thoughts, Asami watched him from the connecting bathroom doorway in their shared bedroom. The amber eyed man had finally gotten his kitten to tell him what he and his mother had spoken about that had the boy so upset.

Asami would never admit it out loud, but he was truly at a loss on how to help the photographer on this one. Sexual therapy, as Asami liked to call it, could only help Akihito so much this time.

He was about to walk over to his kitten when his phone, that he had placed on the dresser earlier, began to ring. Seeing that it was Kirishima, the yakuza answered.

"What is it?'

"_I'm afraid I just received word from our transporter Miroku. It would seem the truck with you latest shipment was hijacked around two hours ago, by a group of people driving five very fast cars._"

". . . "

"_Sir?_"

". . . Have the car ready for me, I'm on my way."

"_Understood Asami-Sama._"

Akihito looked up at his lover, he could almost see the rage coming off of him in waves as he got dressed. "An important matter has been brought to my attention kitten, that I need to see to right away." Asami told him. The photographer was silent a moment before he got up and walked to the amber eyed man. "Please be careful." Akihito said as he wrapped his arms around Asami and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. A kiss that the older male took great pleasure in dominating and deepening. Too bad that was all they could do at the moment. "I promise, I will return soon." A mischievous smirk graced Asami's face, that never failed in making Akihito all but literally melt into goo. "And when I come home, we can finish what this kiss has started." He finished as he palmed Akihito's half hard erection.

He watched as his kitten drew in a sharp breath and closed his eyes. Asami was very tempted to just say 'to hell with it.' and take Takaba right now, but there was a knock on the door letting him know his ride was here. '_Dammit._'

It took Akihito a moment to open his eyes and realize that Asami was no longer there. As soon as that realization hit, he was pissed.

**"DAMN YOU, YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!"**

After fuming a few more minutes, Akihito could see his erection wasn't going anywhere on its own. 'Dammit.' Then headed to the bathroom to both get clean, and take care of his _little problem_.

*~*~*

It was sometime after one pm when the photographer decided that he couldn't sit around in the apartment anymore, and so decided to go for a walk in the local park. Believing some fresh air would do him some good.

Small bits and pieces of his memory was, far to slowly for his liking, coming back to Akihito. Some where in the back of his mind he noticed that Kenji had been assigned to babysit him again. He was brought out of his daze by a rustling sound.

Thinking that it might have been a cat or something, Akihito was perfectly fine with walking by the shrub that the noise came from. Until he also heard the faint sound of crying. Curiosity now peaked, the sandy blond male approached where the sound came from, and was shocked by what he saw.

A little girl, who couldn't have been ten yet, was sitting on the ground with her arms hugging her knees close to herself and had her face buried into them. Her clothes looked dirty and torn in a few places, and her hair was covered in dirt and various plant debris. All in all the sobbing girl was a mess.

Gently, Akihito got closer and crouched down in front of the girl. The girl looked up quickly with a look of shock and fear when Akihito placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you or anything. I just want to help." The photographer explained, opening his arms up in a 'give-me-a-hug' gesture. The child gave him a cautious expression before slowly uncurling herself and crawling into his arms. It took a few moments more before she relaxed in his embrace.

Picking her up, Akihito walked the two of them to the nearest bench and sat down. "Hey." He said, getting the girl's attention. "Why are you out here crying all alone? Aren't your parents near by?" The kid moved lazily in the man's arms so she could face him better. Akihito noticed the girl had hazel colored eyes that were quickly glazing over in exhaustion. "The man in the white suit has mommy and the others now. Zax promised he'd find...When it...safe..." The poor child fell asleep.

*~*~*

You know that feeling you get when you're some where in between awake and asleep, you feel pleasantly warm all over, and you just want to smile and snuggle into your pillow? That's how Yamainu felt right this moment.

At least until her memories from the last few days came back to her. Yamainu shot up from where she was laying to see that she had been resting on a couch, with a blanket wrapped around herself, in a living room that was anything but familiar to her.

'_Where the Hell am I?!_' She mentally shouted. Yamainu got herself untangled from the blanket. '_Now then... Where is the nearest escape route?_' After spotting what appeared to be the apartment door, the nine year old quietly and quickly made her way to the exit.

The sound of someone humming a song to himself, a guy if the tone of voice was anything to go by, grabbed Yamainu's attention. The little blond knew that she should just ignore it and leave this strange place. But dammit all if her demanding sense of curiosity wasn't getting the better of her. '_Mom's right. I really don't seem to have a sense of self-preservation._'

Following the humming, The child peered into an open door way. It lead to the kitchen. And inside she could see a man around the same age as her mom, softly singing to himself ("Show me what it's for...Make me understand it...") as he moved about.

Akihito was busy getting everything ready to cook for dinner. '_I think I'll make a beef stew tonight. It's cool enough outside for it, and there would be plenty of it in case Kenji or one of the other minions want to take some home to eat._' He had just gotten the broth ready and on the stove, when he heard a loud growling sound behind him. '_What the Hell was that, a wild dog?!_'

Turning around he saw that it was only the little girl he brought home from the park. Akihito was curious about what she had told him before passing out and decided that he'd bring her home with him so that she could rest and, hopefully, tell him more about her situation so he could help her.

She was blushing while holding her stomach, as it once again demanded food. After awkwardly staring at each other a moment, Akihito spoke up. "Uh... Dinner is going to be a while yet, you want me to fix you a sandwich to tie you over till then?" "Sure... Do you have any strawberry milk?"

'_Idiot! What the hell are you doing excepting food from a __**stranger**__?! A seemingly nice stranger, but a stranger none the less?! At any rate Yamainu, weren't you trying to escape?! Get yourself together girl!_'

"You like strawberry milk too?" The kid's request had thrown Akihito for a slight loop. Not a lot of people knew this, but it was one of the photographer's guilty pleasures. One that Asami, while not being fond of it himself since he (at least according to Akihito) had no sense of taste (truthfully Asami just thought the strawberry flavor made the milk taste too sweet.), would often let his boy indulge in since it wasn't as unhealthy as some of Akihito's other vices.

Yamainu met Akihito's eyes as she replied. "Yeah. I know a lot of people thinks it's gross. but really it's just like -"

**"Drinking a melted strawberry shake."** The two of them finished together. A slight pause before they burst out laughing.

After the impromptu snack time, Akihito decided that maybe it was okay to start asking questions. "Well, you can call me Akihito. What's your name?" "Yamainu." A nagging feeling began to make itself known in the back of the older blond's mind. "Yamainu, huh? Your parents must have a thing for wolves." "Un. They're my mom's favorite animal, she even uses one as the mascot of our garage." "Garage?"

Asami, mentally, sighed to himself as he entered his home. Kirishima right behind him. This was a full on disaster. Turns out not only was someone balls-y (read certifiably insane and/or suicidal) enough to steal from him, but a couple of his associates as well.

'_Three shipment hijackings in one night, anywhere from two-and-a-half to four hours between them. With the last theft taking place just before dawn._' Opening the folder that Kirishima handed to him, Asami studied the image that he received from the last victom. '_Five, very fast, cars; Surround the semi and then forced the driver to stop. Afterwards one or more of the assailants exit the vehicles and tells the truck drivers to get out or they will shoot. And no one knows what any of these people look like since they all wore "ninja" masks._' Half-hazardly, the Yakuza puts the photo back into the file, then handed it once more to his right hand man.

**"****_-rents must have a thing for wolves._****"** Asami could hear his kitten's voice drifting from the kitchen. '_What could he be talking about?_' He thought to himself as another, much younger, voice replied. **"Un. They're my mom's favorite animal, she even uses one as the mascot of our garage."**

. . .

Okay, just what the fuck was Akihito up to now? And did Asami have enough aspirin to deal with it? Or booze. Booze would work too.

Entering the kitchen, Asami saw that the younger male was sitting at the table with a little kid. A. Little. Kid. There was a little kid, a girl he absently noted, in his apartment. Sitting at his table, and having a conversation with...

"Takaba Akihito; Why is there a child in my apartment?" Said man flinched when he heard his lover's voice. It was far too calm and controlled for comfort. "Welcome home Asami! Interesting story; I found Yamainu-chan in the park earlier today, poor girl was an absolute mess (technically still was. At least Takaba got most of the leaves and sticks out of her hair.). All alone, tired, upset, and hungry. She fainted in my arms-" **"HEY! I PASSED OUT NOT FAINTED! 'FAINTED' IMPLIES I'M SOME DAMSEL IN DISTRESS!"** Both men ignored her. "- So I brought her back here to rest a while and see if there was anything I could do to help her get home again."

"Did the thought to leave her at the nearest police station or hospital ever cross your mind?" Asami asked dryly. The nervous laugh and sheepish expression on the boy told Asamin 'No, no Akihito did not think of that. If he was thinking at all.'

In the background. Kirishima was trying really hard to resist the urge to bash his head into the nearest wall. What the hell was that boy doing? '_Well at least now I know why Kenji-san tried to tell me that Asami-sama needed to come home when he called._'

Yamainu, like most children her age, quickly became bored with watching Akihito and 'goldeye-san', as she dubbed him in her mind, argue over whether or not they should help her. '_They don't even know _why_ or _how_ I need help in he first place..._

'_Ah screw it I'm outta here. I'll rescue mom and the rest of the pack by myself!_'

Yamainu, unnoticed by the arguing men, got up from the table and made her way out of the kitchen. As she walked by 'Glasses-san', she saw a piece of paper dangling from the folder in his hands. Curiosity getting the best of her, again, the little blond slyly pulled it out the rest of the way to take a look. Hazel eyes widening in pure shock when she saw that it was a photo, and what said photo contained.

**"WHAT THE HELL?! I KNOW THESE CARS!"**

"YOU HEARTLESS BAST... What cars Yamainu-chan?" Never let it go unsaid that at times, Akihito had the attention span of a gnat. Too bad for the kid Asami heard her shout as well.

Asami stepped away from his lover and moved towards the girl. Kirishima quickly followed his boss's lead and got beside the girl to her right and placed a hand on her left shoulder to make sure she couldn't get away.

"Listen to me kid, if you want to live to see your next birthday, you will tell me everything you know about these vehicles and who drives them, now." Asami threw in his most intimidating scowl for good measure. The little girl looked scared for a moment, before she started to glare at him and wriggle around to free herself. "Why should I tell you anything you old geezer?! Yakuza bastard you don't scare me!"

Asami raised an eyebrow at the kid's outburst. "Now child please be reasonable." Kirishima tried. **"REASON WITH THIS!"** And the little blond kicked the glasses wearing man in the knee. "NOT AGAIN!" Said man shouted in pain, as he let go.

Yamainu ran as fast as she could to where she remembered seeing the exit before her detour to the kitchen. Only to come face to face, more or less, with a blond mountain of a man ready to catch her. Too bad for him she just slid on the floor under his legs and out of his grasp. '_I'm almost there!_' Throwing the door open, Yamainu found herself picked up in the bear hug from hell, courtesy of the man that had been keeping watch on the other side. "Put me down you brainless drone!"

Asami couldn't help but watch the spectacle before him. He saw the way the girl's hazel eyes lit up in defiance before she lashed out. '_Just like Akihito... What are the odds?_'

"Kenji! Put Yamainu down right now!" Akihito was furious! What the hell was Asami and his men thinking? Couldn't they see that Yamainu was just a scared and innocent little girl?! Honestly! He couldn't blame the kid for cursing at his lover and kicking Kirishima in the knee to escape. He'd would have done the same thing!

'_wait... Didn't I do that once before?_'

Not the issue here! Picking the photo off the floor, Akihito walked towards the living room where Yamainu was currently bitting Suoh's arm and lashing out with her legs at Kenji. "Yamainu, sit down so we can talk. No one (he glares at his lover and the minions.) is going to do anything to hurt you, or the people in this photo. We just want to undestand whats going on." He says as he pulls the chibi into his lap and wraps his arms around her in a comforting mannor.

After a few moments when no one said anything, Yamainu looks up at Akihito. "You sure? Because I know my friends, they would never steal anything... except maybe porn magazines. Point is, The only reason they would steal from someone like this is if they were being forced to on pain of death. Or they were trying to protect someone. Either way, Shishio would make sure they didn't have a choice."

"Who is Shishio?"

". . . I'd have to start at the beginning."

* * *

**AN2:** OMG! Finally I reached the cut off point! First the chapter didn't want to be written, then it didn't want to fucking end!

Bad news; I'm going out of town to visit family in South Carolina next week, and sadly most of my relatives there either don't have a computer or they are homophobic. So I might not be able to post chapter 4 next week. But I will be back August 3rd with a new chapter.

And now I have 2 questions for you people.

01) At what point while writing this chapter did I take a break to play "FFVII: Crisis Core", again? [WHY DO I TORTURE MYSELF THAT WAY?!]

02) Did anyone get the whole "kick to the knee" reference?

Don't worry because I'll answer these questions next time. L8er!


	4. Ready, Set, GO!

**AN:** Answers to the questions in last chapter's second AN are;

01) Seeing as how I based Zax on Zack, right around the time he was shot.

02) Please read the first chapter of "YOU'RE MY LOVEPRIZE IN VIEWFINDER"

Remember how in my second AN last chapter I said that I was going to see family in South Carolina, and that I might not be able to post this chapter on time because my relatives either didn't have a computer or they're homophobic? Well I took the flash drive I have this story saved on with me, Just in case I found a computer I could use. I sort of did since one of my uncles lent me library card and I went ahead to upload and save this chapter into the Doc Manager on this site. I didn't do this with the other chapters because while the chapters were finished, I thought that I might have to go back and tweak them in some way or form later and that it would make more sense to wait until I was ready to publish them before I upload them.

I have a cousin named Michelle, and she falls under the "Homophobic" category. She must have over heard me talk to my uncle and found out that I like to read/write yaoi, because that night she went through my things while I was in the shower, took my flash drive, and deleted _**EVERYTHING**_that I had saved on it. Including the chapters that I didn't upload yet. Well, long story short my family and I had to leave the reunion earlier than planned. To appease BITCH- I mean Michelle's parents I'm going to have to enroll into anger management class. And I might have to go back on the meds...

**_FUCKING CUNT SUCKING_** _**LITTLE**__**BITCH!**_

I now have to re-write chapters 5-7 **ALL-FUCKING-OVER AGAIN!** So glad my chapter overviews were saved on my desktop here at home. So if I'm late to posting a new chapter in the next three weeks, this is why. Lesson learned.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the OCs. And I only WISHED I owned Rindou's car.

* * *

**Chapter 04: (Ready, Set, GO!)**

**6yrs ago:**

_ Ayase smiled as she admired the sight before her. It was a large crowd tonight, with a scheduled six cars at the starting line and she-lost-track-of-how-many cars parked in different areas within the crowd itself. The parked vehicles were being put on display by either her own team or other groups/individuals to show off their skills in customization and modification. Many of the displays had their speakers busting wide open different types of music; Hip-Hop, Rap, Rock (both western and J), Latin, and even J-Pop to name a few genres._

_ Of the six Hashiriya tonight, only Kusanagi Rindou and Shishio Koga were racing for the Pack. It was an unwritten rule of theirs to never have more than three of the Pack members in a race at a time. And the two couldn't be more different in style and ethics._

_ Rindou was driving his "Sleeper" this time. On the outside it looked like a straight out of the factory 2004 Toyota Camry Solara that was a plain Lagoon Blue Mica in color. But if you knew Rindou, then you knew that looks could be deceiving. His baby had a Nitrous oxide injection system of his own design and a few other internal mods to increase it's performance. Rindou himself was an unassuming man in appearance. Short chocolate brown hair that reached the back of his neck with the ends bleached blond. Almond eyes, both in color and in shape. Tonight he was wearing a blue short sleeve button up shirt with the top two undone, blue cargo jeans and gray denim converse, and a classic analog wrist watch. In racing and everyday life, Rindou often preferred what was practical and a firm believer in "Function over Form."_

_ Shishio was a different story. His vehicle was a prime example of a "Rice Burner". A 2005 Lamborghini Gallardo that was mostly black with metallic radioactive green flames lined in chrome painted up the front and sides. A Stereo sound system that in all honesty wasn't doing him any favors when in an actual race, and green & white lights hooked up under the car. To put it simply the Lamborghini was loud, it was obnoxious, it fitted Shishio to a T. Speaking of said man, Shishio's apparel for the night was a very tight light gray tank top with a black leather jacket, black leather pants, and black biker style boots. He wore three gold rings of verious designs on each of his hands, a gold rolex, and a gold chain with a matching pendant that looked like the british royal crown with diamonds embedded into it. Shishio was born and raised rich, and he wasn't afraid to show it. _

_ Why would a man like that hang out with the Pack? Because for all his faults there was no denying that Shishio was an awesome mechanic and pretty good at racing too. The Pack itself was certainly best at what they do, and if there was one thing Shishio wanted to be known for it was that he was always associated with the best._

_ "Hey Ayase-chan, What do you say after my victory tonight, you me and my girls here have a little private party to celebrate. I'll even let you have first pick of the ladies." Shishio said as he strut his way to the Pack leader, with a girl hanging off of each of his arms, giggling like a couple of empty headed loons. Ayase cut him a look that clearly stated ' _I am **NOT** amused._' _

_ "As, 'tempting', as that offer is I'll pass. Besides, you know I have to get home when I'm done here for the night." It was true. After the race was done and the prize given to the winner, Ayase would have to give a cut of the profit to the gorilla in a penguin suit that was watching her like a hawk. '_So that we can operate unhindered._' She told herself. And then get back to the only constant and love in her life, her five year old daughter Yamainu. _

_ Ever since... __**that night**__, Ayase herself has not raced. Only organized and collected. She and the rest of the Pack had a businesses arrangement with the Yakuza. The Yakuza will allow them to hold their races without interfering whatsoever, and in return the Pack will give whichever boss who was incharge of the territory they used a cut of the earnings for the night. It wasn't perfect seeing as how they, the Pack, had to give up no less than 30% of the cash. But 60% of something was __**always**__ better than nothing._

_ Ayase examined the sight before her one more time before she nodded to a young woman that was standing on the opposite side of the street. The other woman, tonight's 'Flagger', nodded back before swaggering into the middle of the street._

_ "All right Ladies and gentlemen; It's time to clear the street! Racers get in your cars and fire them up! We go live in five!" None of them had to be told twice. Everyone knew the race was a "Kousoku Battle" tonight. With the course already uploaded into the GPS of the participants cars._

_ Shishio smirked then he gave a kiss to his girlfriends. "I'll see the two of you in the winner's circle." They merely giggled again and walked away. As he got into his Lamborghini, he heard Rindou sigh and looked up in time to see him shake his head. _

_ "You know, with that Rice Burner of yours, you really should stick to drifting." "You know, you should really mind your own business." "All I'm saying is that it's not-" "Practical. I know. I've heard you preach it to me enough." "And yet you never _listen_ to me."_

_ The flagger took her spot in front and middle of the line up. The Hashiriya had begun to gun their engines. The flagger look to Ayase one more time before receiving the signal._

_"READY. . ."_

_"SET. . ."_

**_"GO!"_**

_The racers took off like bats from Hell._

_ Shishio payed almost no attention to the other Hashiriya. The only one he was focused on was Rindou, as he was the only true competition that he had tonight. As they came to the first sharp turn in the course, Rindou, who had been in the lead, took the turn to wide which allowed Shishio to take the top spot. _

_ It pretty much went like that for the rest of the Kousoku Battle. With one of the other cars occasionally taking the lead before being left in the dust by either Pack member. All along the rout, the more tech-savvy members of the Pack had set up video cameras and were streaming the feed live via the net so that everyone could see the race in it's entirety._

_ Ayase watched the live feed and turned to three of the guys behind her. "Do it." She ordered. The men left to their trucks which were pulling something, hidden underneath a tarp, behind them. They unhooked what ever they were hauling, set it up in the middle of the street, and removed the tarp to show that it was a ramp. It was big and set up at an angle that would launch whoever drove on it roughly 15ft into the air at the highest last obstacle of the race was to be a test of courage. '_This would probably be more impressive, if we could have used a draw bridge instead. Oh well. Make do with what you have._' She thought to herself._

_ "Alright everyone, back up! We won't be held responsible if you're too stupid to get out of the way!" Everyone heeded Ayase's warning._

_ Back with the Hashiriya, Shishio was just making the final turn and saw the ramp. '_Dammit! Ayase didn't say anything about us jumping!_' Mentally cursing the alpha female. A mile before he reached the ramp, Shishio hit the switch that would activate the NOS. Barely a second later his Lamborghini took of at a blinding speed and he flew as soon as he drove over the ramp. Already laughing in sweet victory seeing he was in the lead._

_ At the same time, Rindou was a couple feet behind him. He saw when the spoiled prince activated his Nitrous, and shook his head. '_Too soon._' He waited until he was less than half a mile before he used his own NOS, flying higher and farther than Shishio. The Toyota flew just a few inches higher than the rice burner, and when it came down it bumped against the loud Lamborghini's hood. Causing Shishio to lose control and spin around until it marooned itself onto the sidewalk._

_ Only one other Hashiriya made the attempt at the ramp, the others decided to drop out of the race. Rindou drifted over the finish line and came to a stop once he passed it. His car had gotten a few scratches and the front bumper now had a dent in it, but all in all it was barely any damaged. Rindou howled like a wolf as he exit his vehicle, a huge grin on his face._

_ "The winner, Rindou!" Ayase proclaimed as she grabbed said victor's arm and raised it into the air. In the background, a few other Pack members were going around and collecting money from some of the bets they had made. After giving Rindou his "winning share" Ayase got the cash from the others and began to quickly count it out. After getting the total, she removed the 30% she had promised to Boss Yamada and walked over to the man's goon._

_ "30% as promised." The man made a move to take it until Ayase pulled back. "Uh uh. Receipt first big guy, then you get payed. I wouldn't want that money to some how get lost in-rout to your boss, and then have him come after me claiming I didn't pay his dues when I did without the proof to back myself up." Grumbling a little the man did as asked and Ayase concluded their business for the evening. "Pleasure as always. Give my regards to Yamada-sama."_

_ As the alpha female walked towards he car, she decided to make a detour to check on Shishio. "Hey, you alright Koga?" Said man was currently beating on the messed up front of his car. His baby was not only fucked up from where Rindou bumped it, but two of the tires had virtually exploded, it was leaking oil, and the internal damage was just a nightmare._

_ "Do I look __**okay**__ to you?" "No, not really. Want me to give you a ride? I can get one of the guys to bring around the tow tru-" "AYASE! Just leave me alone." His friend sighed as she started to move away from him. "Fine... I worry about you sometimes Koga." _

_ "Hey Ayase..." "Yes." "Why do you have to give them 30% of __**our**__ money?" "Because, so long as I do they will use their connections within the police departments to keep the officers away from us. Also, they won't harass us and try to muscle in our affairs. As long as we pay, we stay safe and in business. Honestly 30% is a bargain. If we had not gone to them with our proposition first, they would have shut us down or forced us to give them an even bigger cut." "But __**we**__ are the ones risking our lives and working our asses off! Not __**them**__!" "Shishio Koga you will be silent right now! You've never had to scrape by with a meager living or worry about things like '_How am I to pay the bills?'_ or '_How will I be able to get groceries?_' or anything of the like. Maybe to __**you**__ what we get at the end of the night might not seem like much, especially after we pay our tithes to the Yakuza. But to the rest of us it's like we just one a jackpot in the lottery or something. Get off of your spoiled high horse and join the rest of us in reality!"_

_ Ayase walked away after that. Shishio didn't agree with her at all. "It's my money, I should keep it."_

**5yrs ago:**

_ Ayase was entering their new establishment. After seven hard years of blood, sweat, and tears; The Pack's dream of opening their own high end shop had been realized. She was the first one in this morning after dropping her daughter off at school. She made her way to the back of the garage where a white sheet was draped over a lone vehicle. This was Ayase's labor of love right here._

_ "Good morning Beowulf. Did you sleep well? How do you like your new home?" She talked to the 1999 Honda Civic. It took a while, but she had fixed all of the mechanical issues. Now all she had to do was finish the cosmetic work and the restoration will be completed. Asyase's eyes began to mist over and a lump formed in her throat as she placed one of her hands on the hood. "Oh Aki-kun. You would have loved this place. And Beowulf's been so sad since you left..."_

_"Speaking to old ghosts again Ayase-chan?"_

_ The Pack leader turned around to see Shishio was standing behind her. "Oh! It's just you Koga. Don't you sneak up on me like that!" Things between Shishio and the rest of the Pack have been strained as of late. He wasn't racing much anymore, and his work at the shop had begun to slip. The man before Ayase had begun to look like a wreak as well._

_ What the Pack didn't know is that not long after the Kousoku Battle where he wreaked his Lamborghini, Shishio's parents had cut him off. They were furious that not only did their son buy and wreaked one expensive import, but he had the gall to buy a brand new Lamborghini instead of just fixing the one that crashed. It was the final straw and they told Koga that if he didn't grow up and act like a man then they would not pay for him to act like a juvenile delinquent._

_ Things became tough for Shishio after that. He had to move out of his condo to a middle class apartment because it was his parents paying the rent before, not him. He could no longer indulge in any of his past hobbies like yachting or catching up with old school mates at the country club. Couldn't afford to pay his entry fee into the races most of the time. Even his many girlfriends had left him. He became so depressed that he developed a drug habit. Just last night he sold his favorite chain to pay for his fix, and if things kept going the way they were he would need to sell his car too. Shishio Koga was now a joke, a shell of the man he once was._

_ And every time he watched his boss pay her tithes, he felt his blood boil more. That was __**his**__ cash! And he'd be damned before he watched the foolish woman piss away anymore of his money!_

_ "Ayase, I have a business proposition for you." Shishio spoke calmly and clearly. Ayase narrowed her eyes at him in question. While she didn't know what was going on in her friend's personal life anymore, she did still care. But the man before her was giving her a bad feeling, her instincts growling at her to be ready to attack. "What kind of proposition?"_

_ "I want you to turn full leadership and management of the Pack to me. I'm going to put a stop to you always giving my money away to the Yakuza when they don't deserve it. I'm going to run this garage and races __**my**__ way. I'm going to get rid of the pile of junk you have behind you. And you are going going to do what I say, when I say it, and love every minute of it." Shishio told his boss as he moved towards her, ready to use violence to get her to agree if necessary. Actually, he might enjoy that. _

_ As Shishio lunged at Ayase, the blond woman quickly side stepped him and tripped him up. Causing the crazed man to collide with the front of Beowulf. Some of the jagged metal still present jammed it's self into his right leg, like an alpha wolf biting down on an upstart to put them in their place. Shishio cried out in pain as Ayase elbowed him in the back of the head, causing him to slam his head hard onto the hood of the car. She pulled out the pocket knife, a precious birthday present that Akihito once gave her, that she caried at all times and held it to her would be assailant's throat._

_ "Now __**I**__ have a proposition for __**you**__. You are __**FIRED**__ Shishio. And are no longer welcomed anywhere near this garage, or any of the Pack members and our territories. And if I DO catch you even 100 miles close to me and mine-" She pressed the knife against his throat harder, actually drawing blood. "- I _**WILL**_ kill you. Now get the Hell out and never come back!" With those final words, Ayase flung Shishio to the floor. Knife still at the ready. Shishio stared fearfully at the blond woman and for the first time ever saw the wolf that everyone had always compared her to. He quickly got up and fled the shop, not noticing that Rindou had entered the building._

_ Of all the things that Rindou had expected to see that morning, Shishio running as if death itself was behind him and right passed Rindou did not make the top of the list. He made his way to where he could see Ayase, wanting to know what the bloody hell was going on._

_"Damn. Now there's another dent I'll have to take care of." _

_ "Ayase?" "Rindou? Good morning! When did you get in?" "Just a second ago. Alpha, what's going on? Why was-" "Rindou I need you to listen to me and listen carefully. Shishio Koga is not to ever be allowed anywhere near us again. He has lost his place here in our pack. I'll explain everything later, but for now I need you to stay here and tell everyone what I just told you when they come in. I'm going to get my little wolf out of school early today. We'll be back as soon as I pick her up." "Sure thing."_

_ Ayase briskly made her way to her car. Once inside she took a deep breath and pulled her knife out again, she could see it still had the bastard's blood on it. She gave a small, rueful smile as she said to herself. "Good thing we took those self defense classes together, huh? Even though you are not here any more, you are still protecting me Aki-kun. Thank you."_

**3 Days Ago:**

_ It was a typical day in the shop known as "Fenrir's Den". Ayase had brought her daughter, Yamainu, with her this morning due to school being closed for the day and she couldn't find a babysitter. Not that Yamainu needed a babysitter, at least if you were asking the girl herself._

_ "Good morning everyone!" Ayase called out. "Mornin' Pack leader!" It was Zax that answered her. He was a good kid, in college studying mechanical engineering, interning here for credit. Though Ayase was paying him off the books. No one minded she was doing that, they all knew that Zax worked hard and needed the income. Besides, he was one of the few people that Yamainu took to right away and was the only one who could keep up with the littlest blond._

_ "Morning Zax!" Yamainu shouted as she ran to give the teen a great big hug. "There's my future bride!" Zax had said as he scooped the girl up._

_ "Zax you better just be kidding when you call her that, or we are going to have problems." Ayase said with a smile, her tone of voice implying that she was only half joking. "MOM! ZAX IS NO PEDO! Are you?" "HELL NO! And you know damn well that I only see spikey as a little sister, Ayase." "Good."_

_ And the rest of the morning was pretty much the same as always. Until around 10:30am. A large commotion came from the front of the shop, twelve huge men in suits barged in shooting off their guns into the air. Everyone quickly hit the floor._

_ Zax, who had been in the back break room watching over his boss' kid, pulled Yamainu to him and placed a hand on her mouth. The last thing they needed was for spikey to start calling out to her mom in fear. Right now his top priority was to keep a low profile and keep the girl safe._

_ After a few more minutes, a man in a pristine white suit walked in. Ayase snarled at the sight of him. '_How **dare** he show his face here again!_' _

_It was Shishio Koga._

_ Rumor had it that ever since he was banned from the Pack, he had gotten a job working as a small time crook for the Yakuza. But with his greed and ambition that all too soon was no longer enough for him. Shishio learned everything he could of the business from his boss, then he decided to strike it out on his own. It took him awhile to... procure the necessary funds he needed to start his little venture. But it was worth it to him._

_ "Hello Ayase, it's been a long time." "Not long enough." "How cliched of you to say. Look, I know we didn't part on the best of terms when we last saw each other; But I came here today to offer you the opportunity of a life time. I've come up with a brilliant plan to not only put my name on the map, but to drive the rest of the Yakuza out of buisness._

_ "I'm going to have you and your staff here drive one or two of my boys, and have them intercept any and all shipments of 'merchandise' that are in rout to those old farts. Once their supplies have been cut off, I'm going to approach their buyers & customers and have them deal with me from now on. I will finally take my place among the koi fish who have become dragons!"_

_ "You've lost your fucking mind Shishio!" Ayase shouted. "Says the woman who compares herself to a wolf."_

_ After shrugging his shoulders, Shishio stares right into Ayase's eyes. "Well Ayase-chan, what do you think of my business proposal?" The gang leader asked smugly. "Not interested, And the name's Gyousei to you Shishio."..._

**Present Day:**

"And that's when Shishio told his goons to round everybody up or kill them so they couldn't get away to get help. Zax was able to get us outside but those men started chasing us. Zax told me to run while he lured them away and that he would come and find me as soon as it was safe for him to.

"But... he didn't. It's been three days since then, and he _STILL_ hasn't found me! Why?! Where is he?! I want to see Zax Onii-chan! I want us to go home! I want my MOMMY!" Yamainu couldn't hold it in anymore and began to sob after she finished telling Akihito and Asami everything she knew about the situation at hand.

Akihito was doing everything he could to sooth the child in his arms, whispering what he hoped were encouraging words to her. Never once did the young man ever think that he could hate someone as much as he did Shishio. And considering everything he's been through and all the people he's met, especially after getting involved with Asami, **THAT** was saying something. '_That fucking Shishio! I've never liked the bastard! Why did Ayase have to be so kind to everyone? I'll fucking KILL him for hurting my pack!_'

Where the Hell did _THAT_ thought come from?!

While his boy was attending to the girl, Asami was already analyzing the information the kid had provided and making battle plans in his head. '_So the fool is hiding out at this "Fenrir's Den", and has taken an unknown number of hostages. This Zax fellow is either among the hostages or, more than likely, dead. And if what Yamainu says is true, then her mother and her employees really are being forced to commit these crimes against their will. Which means Akihito would never forgive me if my men and I simply charge into the place and kill everyone, whether directly or by proxy..._

'_I should probably have a person looking into finding Zax as well. Least I could do for the kid._'

Kirishim, albeit warily, approached the two hazel eyed people still sitting on the couch. "Your mother's name?" Two matching sets of eyes look at him in confusion. "You've told us the name of the man who is holding your mother and the other... members of your pack, hostage. You've told us the name of the shop that your mother owns, and you've even told us the name of the boy who helped you escape. But you've neglected to tell us the name of your mother."

Yamainu looked unsure of herself. "Hey. You have to tell us who your mother is so that we can help her. I told you before that no one here will hurt her and I meant it. Please tell us?" Akihito reassured her once again. Yamainu reached into her pocket and pulled out a pocket sized photo album. "I took these myself. The lady in the first picture is my mom."

The men gathered round so that they could see the image of a woman who's blond hair was identical in both color and style to the child among them. She had a small smile on her face and she had a hand resting on something covered in a white cloth. Her emerald green eyes shining with sentimental light and love. It was obviously a candid photo. Probably wasn't even aware that anyone was near her with a camera.

"My mom's name... Is Gyousei Ayase."

***~*~LATER THAT NIGHT~*~***

Yamainu was currently sleeping in the bedroom that Akihito had once claimed for himself. While said photographer was sitting on the couch thinking to himself. He had so many questions and thoughts running around in his head. Was Ayase and the other alright, well as alright as they could be? What if Asami couldn't save them? Would his lover even try? '_Don't be an idiot Akihito! Of course the bastard's gonna try! He knows these people once meant something important to you, even if you have forgotten them.' Though knowing Asami, while he must know the address of Fenrir's Den by now, he has most likely not mounted his attack just yet. He was probably trying to find all the information on Shishio as he could as well as anything he could get on the building itself._'

'_I should be the one to help my pack! I should protect whats MINE!_'

"Will you shut up ALREADY!"

Yet another issue that has popped up. Ever since Akihito heard Yamainu's story a voice, that sounded a lot like his own but more... growl-y, has appeared in his head. This voice was very protective and possessive. Not to mention annoying. He knew from his mother that he and his friends had a sort of wolf pack mentality when it came to each other, he just didn't think she meant it literally. '_It's official, I've finally cracked._'

He sat there for a few more moments before he just couldn't take it anymore. He pulled out his iPhone and typed in the name of the shop to get it's location. "Sorry Asami, but I just can't stand idly by while my friends are in trouble. Besides I need the answers only they can give me." He got up and went to his old room to check on Yamainu. Akihito was glad Asami was letting her stay here, if only for the night.

'_Don't worry my pup. I'll reunite you with your mom soon._'

'_Since when is she __**MY**__ pup!?_'

When all this was over, Akihito was going to have a nice long talk with a therapist.

He left the room and walked to the apartment door. '_How do I get pass Kenji?_' Before he could stop himself, Akihito opened the door and elbowed Kenji in the back of his head. The man went down before he knew what, or rather who, hit him. '_Problem solved._'

"Forget the shrink, I need to be committed."

Akihito checked Kenji's pulse, satisfied that the man was simply unconscious and not dead. Then left for the elevator. A few moments later a smaller set of feet paused beside the unconscious man. After staring at him for a minute Yamainu said to herself. "Note to self: _NEVER_ piss off Akihito." And made her way towards the stairs. Her pack was in trouble and she refused to runaway anymore!

* * *

**AN2:** **Street Racing Terminology used:**

Hashiriya= A Japanese word that means illegal street racer.

Kousoku Battle= A Japanese word that means to illegal street race on highways, freeways, or expressways.

Sleeper= A vehicle with a factory stock appearance with high performance internal modifications. The unassuming exterior is designed to deter car thieves, the attention of law enforcement, and to fool an opponent to underestimate the cars performance to win a wager.

Rice Burner= A derogatory term used to identify a vehicle, largely an import, that is focused on external customization that has no affect on performance.

Flagger= The person responsible for starting a Dig (illegal street race) where two or more vehicles begin at a standstill and race to a predetermined point (usually a quarter mile). The flagger will assume a position between the vehicles at a distance of five to ten feet from there hood and through hand and head signals verifies each driver is ready and initiates the race.

NOS= A term often incorrectly used to identify Nitrous Oxide is actually an acronym for Nitrous Oxide Systems; the largest manufacturer of automotive nitrous oxide injection systems in America.

Thank you "Street Racing & Illegal Street Racing Dictionary Terms Glossary"!

Please visit: (colon slash slash)w w .com (slash) stories (slash) Love-Myths-And-Legends-From-All-Cultures (slash) 639074

if you wish to get the whole Koi fish turning into dragons thing. It's a very interesting legend. Just remove the spaces and replace the words in parenthesis with the proper character. Why doesn't fanfiction dot net just let us post the link as is?


	5. And they're off!

**AN:** _Finally_ finished re-writing this chapter! Sorry that it took so long but school is back in session. I still need to redo chapters 6 & 7, but hopefully it won't take as long as this one did. Also thanks to everyone who reviewed and offered their support last time. As well as fave/followed.

OH! Off topic but I wrote an M-rated Final Fantasy VII 1-shot called "The Devil's Trill". It's a Seph/Cloud pairing. It's more or less a practice run for my lemon writing skills, so if I could get some feedback from that I'd appreciate it.

**Warnings for this chapter:**Brief mention of lesbianism and hetero pairings, but nothing beyond kissing. Also **death**.

**Disclaimer:**Exactly how many times and how many ways can I say that I don't own anything but OCs? Because that fact has not changed.

* * *

**Chapter 05: (And they're off!)**

"**DAMN YOU TO THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL SHISHIO! YOU AND THOSE GLORIFIED COCK WARMERS YOU CALL HENCHMEN BETTER LET ME OUT RIGHT THIS INSTANT!**"

To say that Ayase was pissed would be the understatement of the century. Currently she was locked inside of her office from the outside, and the only other way out was through the window...

that had been nailed and welded shut.

DAMN.

The alpha of the Pack had never felt so helpless in her whole life. Not even when she was pregnant with Yamainu did she feel this inadequate. 'Oh, My little wolf..' Ayase could only pray that her precious daughter was safe and okay. The mother knew that Yamainu was going to be devastated when she found out about Zax...

"It's bad enough that monster had Zax and a few of the others killed, but to drag his body back here then set it and the rest of the corpses on fire in front of the rest of us... **I'LL ****_NEVER_**** FORGIVE YOU SHISHIO KOGA! IF I HAVE TO DIE TO DO IT, I'LL SEE YOU INTO HELL!"**

Outside of Ayase's prison, the ten surviving members of the Pack were restrained in the most demeaning way that Shishio could think of. The cruel man had his goons weld a steal ring into the concrete floor, forced his prisoners to wear collars that were attached to the leashes that were tethered to the ring, then had them sit in a circle in a way that forced them all to stare outside of the circle and had the part where collar met leash turned to the back of their necks.

The last remnants of the Pack, when not restrained like dogs, were being forced to drive one or two of Shishio's guys to some out of the way roads and highways, where they would then participate in highjacking trucks filled with drugs, weapons, and Kami-sama knew what else. Merchandise that belong to the Yakuza.

And they were doing all of this because they were threatened that if they didn't then Ayase would be brutally raped and killed right before there eyes. While they couldn't, and wouldn't, trust Shishio; He did his best to assure them that after they finished helping him then he would let them all go.

'_Yeah, let us go with a bullet to the brain._' Rindou thought to himself.

***~*~ Meanwhile with Asami~*~***

Asami Ryuichi was _**NOT**_ happy. At all. He was currently sitting in his limo with Kirishima and Suoh sitting on either side of him. His other men, including a recovered Kenji, were following behind in two large black vans.

At a meeting with the rest of his men, they had come up with a battle plan and were armed and ready to blast the impudent Shishio Koga and his men to kingdom come. For Akihito's, and maybe the girl's, sake Asami made sure to let his own men know that, accident or not, if they killed a single member of the Pack then they would forfeit their own lives.

Then just barely an hour ago when the golden eyed male returned to his condo to check on his kitten and the puppy - Yes, Asami was calling the blond kid a puppy - he found Kenji just barely conscious with a nasty bruised bump on the back of his head. Oh, and the hazel eyed duo was nowhere to be found.

Though what had really concerned Asami, other than the love of his life - but he'll be damned before he says it out loud - and the stray that he brought home were missing, was the fact that Kenji was adamant about the fact that the last thing that he could remember before his impromptu nap was the sound of the apartment door opening up behind him. And with the position of the wound on the man's head that could only mean one thing...

Akihito, TAKABA AKIHITO, was the one to knock Kenji out.

Since when could his boy do _that_? Yes he knew that Akihito was spirited and scrappy, but he was never that efficient with fighting before. There was no doubt that Akihito, after braining Kenji, had left to "Fenrir's Den" garage. Why? Because this was Takaba, I-will-needlessly-put-myself-in-a-life-or-death-si tuation-bacause-I-never-think-things-through, Akihito. And Asami's kitten would rush to the aid of the Pack. Though surly he didn't take the girl with him?

"Sir? I just received word from Kenji; He and his group are at the rendezvous point and ready to begin once we arrive." Suoh said as he was pulling his cell phone from his head. "Very well." was the boss' reply. '_Akihito, when this is all over; I'm going to lock you in the special room for a week where first I will punish you... Then when I'm done I'm going to __**punish**__ you._'

*~*~Just outside the garage~*~*

"AHCHOO!"

Akihito rubbed a finger across his nose trying to sooth the sudden burning, itchy, feeling it had. "That bastard Asami better not be thinking bad thoughts about me." Shaking his head, the photographer began to sneak around the side of the building to find a way in. "Seriously who has windows that can't open... Other than maybe people who work/live in skyscrapers."

After what felt like forever, Takaba finally found an open window. Sure it was like one and a half, maybe two, stories of the ground; But with a well placed dumpster to climb on and a high enough jump he should make it in. He did, barely. But the point was he made it!

Though he really hoped no one heard the noise he made when he did.

Quickly and carefully he pushed the glass pain up and crawled in. He forgot to look and see what kind of room it was and if the room he was entering was empty. It was a bathroom. And it was occupied. Thankfully the levels of awkwardness was brought down a few pegs since the woman that was currently in there was in the process of washing her hands.

The woman was around Aki's age with short, wavy, black hair that reached her shoulders and whiskey colored eyes. She was dressed as a mechanic, and had black rimmed glasses resting on her face. Though what really caught Akihito's attention was the dog collar that was on the young woman's neck and seemed to be attached to one of those retractable leashes, with the other end slipping out from under the closed door. Meaning that there was someone on the other side holding the leash.

The two just stared at each other with wide-eyed, shocked expressions. The mousey woman trying _really_ hard to fight the urge to scream. There was something familiar about her...

"Been a long time Sayaka, I see you finally got a hair cut."

'. . . _Oh great, you're going to talk through me now too_?'

The photographer covered his mouth with both hands as the woman moved closer to get a better look at him. "Aki... Akihito?! Oh my God it _**is**_ you!" She whispered, more like hissed excitedly, as she embraced the man before her in a tight hug. Holding him at arms length she began to quietly ask questions. "What are you doing here? Why did you come through the window? Did you finally regain your memory? Wha-" "Can I PLEASE answer the question before you ask another?" "Sorry." "No big deal.

"I'm sorry, but I still don't remember everything too clearly. My memory is only starting to come back to me. Honestly I don't know where your name or that random statement came from. I came through the window because I didn't think it was a good idea to walk through the door. As for what I'm doing here, well... I happen to have met this little wolf and she told me about what was going on. So I decided to come here and try to free you guys before the Yakuza burst in here to take back their stolen property. And trust me they are on their way. Might even show up within the hour."

"Yamainu?" the woman asked. Akihito nodded his head yes. "Y-you met Yamainu?" "Yeah. I found her exhausted and upset in this park not far from where I live, I took her home when she fainted ( Somewhere not too far off, Yamainu sneezed. ) and I got her to tell me what was going on."

Sayaka really didn't know if she should be thanking Karma, or cursing Murphy's law for allowing those two to meet. Though when the bathroom door opened to reveal the thug that was currently holding her leash, she went with damning Murphy to Hell. "The fuck is taking so. . . Who the Hell are you?!" Shit.

Sayaka tried to push her old friend towards the window, telling him to forget about them and run. But that strange.. presence that had just started sharing Akihito's being had other plans.

"I won't let you hurt anymore of my pack!" He grabbed the man's wrist that was holding Sayaka's leash and twisted/tugged it at the same time, causing it to become dislocated and drop the demeaning device. The man shouted in pain for a second before Akihito, like a possessed man, gave a hard jab with his fist into the thug's neck. Cutting off his air and the sound. "Climb out through the window and look for a Yakuza named Asami Ryuichi. Tell him that I'm here, and that if any of the Pack's blood is shed by him or his men-" He turned to look at the woman, his normally calm hazel eyes ice cold and filled with violent intent while his face was a mask of pure rage "- I _WILL_ rip him apart." Sayaka nodded meekly as she removed that damned collar.

After climbing out the window, Sayaka ran in a random direction until about an hour later when she came across a group of well dressed men. They appeared to be checking their guns when one of them, a dark haird male with glasses noticed her and pointed his weapon at her.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" He demanded. "M-my name is Sayaka. I've escaped from Fenrir's den, please could one of you help me get word to an Asami Ryuichi? I have an important message for him."

*~*~Meanwhile with Akihito~*~*

Okay, while he knew he had a job to do, Akihito had to admit that he was having some fun wailing on the man that he had pinned beneath him. Though if he kept going at it the man might die, or at least pass out, and then he would be unable to lead Akihito to Shishio. 'And HE is the one that needs to die.' Hauling the man by his throat to meet his face, Akihito snarled at him. "Where is Shishio? Take me to him **NOW**."

"No need too." Akihito heard the sound of a gun shot and felt a painful sting in his left arm. Glancing at it he saw that it was a tranquilizer dart that had hit him. Eyes wide in shock he quickly ripped the dart from his arm. Good news, he managed to pull it out before half of it's contents could enter his blood stream. Bad news, enough of the drug managed to get inside him so that he could slightly feel it's effects. Damn.

Looking up to face his shooter, Akihito felt rage fill him once more when he saw the smug face of Shishio Koga. "Long time no see, Takaba. Lucky for me this tranq gun and matching darts was in one of the crates I stole. Otherwise I might of had to kill you, and that would have been bad. I did so wish to see my old _friend_. Shame I'm a little busy taking inventory at the moment, so just go to sleep now." '_This isn't over bastard..._'

"...hito?...akihito...AKI-KUN WAKE THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Akihito's head jerked to the side as he felt the slap to his face. What a rude way to be woken up. He found himself laying on the floor of what appeared to be an office, his head resting on someone's lap. Opening his eyes, Akihito couldn't make out what he was seeing at first. Just blurs of gold, emerald, and blue. Finally though he was able to focus and the blurs took on an actual form.

Familiar gold hair, emerald eyes, and a navy blue jumpsuit came into view. "...Ayase?" Damn, why did his head hurt and throat feel like someone had rubbed sandpaper on it from the inside? Said woman, after overcoming her shock, gave him a look of happiness and relief.

Before she decked him again and started to yell at him.

"What the bloody Hell are you doing here Aki-kun?! You sure picked a damned bad time to visit!" She handed him a glass of water and helped him drink it. "Good to see you too, Ayase."

"Aw, how sweet. Three childhood friends coming together again after such a long time." The moment was interrupted by Shishio. "**Go choke on a rhino's cock Shishio!**" Both blonds yelled at the same time. "So cruel to me."

Shishio took a moment to light up a cigaret. After his first inhale/exhale, he continued. "Hey Ayase, did you know that Akihito here helped your lover to get away." '_Lover?_' Akihito thought. Ayase's eyes widen as she looked down to face her old, true, friend. "You got Sayaka out of here?" Oh. Wait. '_WHAT?!_'

"I guess by that look on your face, you still don't remember that I bat for the other team." "You're a lesbian?" "I've been out of the closet since I was thirteen." "Then why did I remember the two of us...uh, you know..." "Having sex?" "Yeah, unless that really was only a dream." "No... you and I slept together once."

"Now I'm really confused."

"Then allow me to explain." Shishio said as he moved towards the two. "One night after a race, you and Ayase went back to her place to grab some beer for the rest of us when the two of you saw them..." Shishio's voice faded from Akihito's attention when an old memory flashed before his eyes.

*~*~Flash Back Time!~*~*

_ Akihito and Ayase were laughing at the memory of the look one of the hashiriya's face when they saw Akihito take his place at the starting line with Beowulf. "I swear I heard him say 'Oh fuck me!' from where I was standing. And I was in the pit!" Ayase exclaimed. "Trust me he-" The two teens sobered up quick when they opened the door to Ayase's apartment. There on the self-proclaimed wolf lady's couch were two women making out with each other._

_"MEGUMI!"_

_"KIKIYO!?"_

_ Immediately the two women broke away from each other to stare in shock at the two new comers. "Ayase! Baby, what are you doing here?!" Asked the one named Megumi. "What do you mean 'What am I doing here'? This is __**MY**__ place!" Oh yeah, Ayase was livid. Megumi got up to try to calm her girlfriend down when the blond female growled at her. Deciding that _maybe_ it would be a bad idea to get any closer, Megumi tried to explain herself._

_ "Well, yeah I know this is your place. What I meant was, what are you doing home? I thought you and the others were going away to some rally this weekend." It was Akihito that answered. "That's __**NEXT**__ weekend! And what kind of excuse is that for you two to cheat on us?!" That's right folks. While Ayase was dating Megumi, Akihito was dating Kikiyo. And the two childhood friends just caught their respective girlfriends cheating on them with each other. Soap opera much?_

_ "Well maybe if you spent as much time catering to a girl's needs as you do in a garage, I might not have sought comfort in another. Honestly Akihito, you and I haven't even slept together yet!" Kikiyo accused. "I was working so that I could get you this!" Reaching into his pocket Akihito pulled out what looked like two passes. "I was going to take you to that hot spring resort that you were raving about so much for your birthday!" Kikiyo was stunned. Her birthday was next weekend, the same weekend that Akihito and his friends were planning on going to that stupid car thing. _Oops.

_ "I've heard enough. Both of you have five minutes to get your shit and get out. Megumi I never want to see you again." Really Ayase didn't know who she was more pissed at. Megumi for cheating on her, or Kikiyo for breaking her beloved pack brother's heart._

_ After the two bitches left, Ayase called Rindou to tell him that he and the rest of the Pack were going to have to get their own damn booze because she and Aki-kun needed to get wasted alone tonight. It was roughly one and a half six packs later that the two of them were plastered. Sadly, neither of them had a good tolerance level when it came to Alcohol._

_ "Damn Kikiyo... I wasted three months of hard labor for her!" Akihito slurred. "And where does she get off saying I don't know how to please a girl huh? So what I never has sex before, I want my first time to be special!" "Ah, that bitch was never good enough for you anyway! Fucking gold digger, let her make Megui miserably! " Turning to her best friend, Ayase pointed at Akihito. "Now you! You... deserve waaaaaaaaaay better." _

_ The air around Akihito turned positively emo. "But what if she's right. What if I can't please a girl? I'm still a virgin!" "Oh lighten up Aki-kun." "I'm sew- uh? Sour? SERIOUS! I'm serious! What if I some how mess up or something?" Ayase face-palmed. "If you're that worried about it, then why don't I give you some pointers?" "You'd do that for me?" "Sure! Who better to teach a guy the fine art of making love to a woman than a lesbian?" Kneeling in front of her friend Ayase drew her face to Akihito's. "Let's start with the basics. How to give a kiss..."_

_Broken hearts, beer, and teenage hormones. Never a good mix does that make._

*~*~End Flash Back~*~*

"So does that mean that..." Akihito trailed off. "Yep. congratulations Aki-chan, you're a daddy. Too bad you got into that accident and lost your memory. You were so looking forward to being a father."

Shishio knocked on the door and one of his goons opened it for him. The slimy bastard had just walked through it before he turned to face them again. "Honestly, it makes me feel a little bad. That I sabotaged the breaks on Beowulf before our last race together." "**YOU WHAT?!**"

Gunshots from downstairs halted the conversation.

*~*~While the grown ups were talking, Yamainu~*~*

Yamainu had just managed to sneak in the building via an air vent. She stalked around the garage, making sure that she stayed out of sight. When she rounded a corner, she became shocked then enraged at the sight of her Pack, her family, tied to the ground like dogs. '_Bastard will DIE!_' Picking up a conveniently placed wrench, the little girl threw it hard and long in a random direction. The noise it made when it landed got the attention of the thug that was watching the Pack and he left to investigate.

With stealth that would make a ninja jealous, Yamainu crept towards her family and pulled out the small kitchen knife she pilfered from GoldEye-san's place. "_PSST_..." She whispered/hissed to get Rindou's attention. To say that Rindou was surprised to see the kid was an understatement.

"Yamainu?! What are you doing _here_?!" The burnett male whispered/yelled. "Getting you out of here, duh." Was Yamainu's sassy reply. "Never mind that! You need to get away before those fuckers find you!" "They're to preoccupied with Akihito to notice I'm here." "Akihito... _TAKABA_ Akihito?!" "Yeah. Why?" "Another time." "Whatever." All the while Yamainu and Rindou talked, sort of, she was cutting through the dammed leashes. She had just freed Rindou and one other person when the guard from earlier returned.

"What the fu-!" Before the man could finish, Rindou had taken the knife from the pack pup and stabbed the man in the right shoulder. Missing his intended target of the creep's heart, or at least a lung. In his pain the goon shot his gun, thankfully having about as good a aim as Rindou seeing as how he didn't hit anyone. The other now free Pack members quickly tied the man up with the leashes that had once confined them. Using the collar that Rindou had worn as a gag to shut him up.

*~*~Asami is here, YAY!~*~*

Asami and his men heard the shot go off from inside. '_Damn! We can't take anymore time._' "Ready or not, we're going in now!" Asami had ordered. He and his men charged into the building from the back entrance. Kirishima taking out the first of Shishio's henchmen with his first shot. Suoh was leading the other team coming in through the front.

Because these men they were up against were obviously, painfully so, amateurs; It took next to no time to take them down. The only tricky part was finding them. Asami was so glad Kirishima, Suoh, and himself had memorized the blue prints of this garage. The Intel that that Sayaka woman gave them very useful as well.

"ASAMI!"

The Yakuza quickly looked up at the shout of his kitten. Yep, Akihito got himself in over his head... Again. The boy was _SO_ getting a spanking later, and maybe not in the fun way either.

Asami could see the photographer was up on the second floor, standing in the door way of an office behind a man that could only be the Shishio he was told about. Without a word, some one as bad-ass as Asami only needed a glare and his silence to tell a person that they were fucked, he took aim at the impudent upstart and shoot.

Shishio saw what Asami was doing and suddenly dragged his last remaining guard in front of himself to use as a meat shield. The bullet entered in the unsuspecting thug's neck and pierced an artery. Had Shishio taken the bullet and excepted his death like a man, it would have hit him right between his dirty water colored eyes.

"Asami-sama! The hostages are free, and you were right. Yamainu did sneak out with Takaba-san." Kenji reported. Shishio's eyes widen at the news. As well as the sight of his now freed dogs standing with Asami's men wielding various types of tools that could cause major damage if used as weapons. Like they were wanting to against him.

"It's over Shishio. Either give up quietly and die with dignity, or you can go out like the bitch that we all know you are. Either way, you're not living to see the next sunrise." Akihito said as he and Ayase exited her office. He had no illusions. After what Shishio did, not only to the Pack, but to Asami and other Yakuza bosses? A swift death was the best that the coward could hope for.

'_NO! I won't let it end like this!_' Shishio thought to himself. Still holding his, now dead, human shield, The deranged man pointed his gun at Akihito. Asami and his men fired at Shishio, but thanks to the corps he didn't get hit. Instead he shot off his own weapon.

_**BANG!**_

From there everything seemed to have happened in slow motion. Akihito could practically see the bullet head straight for him. Then he felt himself fall as he was pushed down out of the way. A head of braided blond hair blocking his view of everything at the moment.

At the sound of a howl of pain and the anguished cry of "**MOMMY!**" the scene returned to real time as he watched Ayase hit the ground. There was blood spilling from her chest.

Shishio took the opportunity to pull out some kind of device that had two buttons on top of it, one yellow the other red. "I'd hold your fire from now on if I were you Asami Ryuichi! I took the liberty of using some of the explosives I stole, from _your_ shipment no less, and wired this place to blow sky high with a push of this button! So keep this in mind the next time you aim at me, no matter what happens, I'll still have plenty of time to hit the switch. And if you don't believe me..."

At this Shishio pushed the yellow button. Sure enough there was an explosion outside. Asami knew what that meant. That explosion was a warning. The next time Shishio would be serious. When the Yakuza boss returned his attention to the second floor platform, Shishio was gone.

During the chaos his bomb caused, Shishio quickly made his escape.

Akihito was holding Ayase as steady as he could, doing his best to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, the bullet was a through and through, and it had pierced Ayase's lung. "_Never thought our reunion would go like this, huh Aki-kun?_" The wounded wolf lady weakly said, a smile on her face. "Don't talk Ayase, just save your strength! You're going to be okay!" Akihito tried to comfort his old friend, but it was obvious that things were not going to be "Okay".

Asami had rushed up the stairs to be by his boy's side. He knelt behind Akihito and placed his hands on the blond male's shoulders. The older man had seen this scene far too many times, he knew there was no hope for the woman. She had bled out too much already and the lung had already collapsed. She'd be lucky, as well as suffering, if she lasted long enough for paramedics to arrive. Let alone reach the hospital. Regretfully the only thing he _could_ do now was offer Akihito some support while said photographer comforted his friend in her final moments.

Yamainu raced to be by her mother's side. She was too choked up to actually say anything. She grabbed her mother's hand that was closest to her. "Mommy..." She finally whimpered. Ayase turned to her daughter, smile still firmly in place. "_Hey... There's my little wolf... There's someone I want you t-to meet._" Ayase, barely, raised her free hand to Akihito, who quickly took hold of it. "_You remember what I told you...About your dad?_" "Yeah. You said that he got hurt and lost his memories, and that you and the others had to leave him after that." "_t-That's right. Well... This is your dad. I-_" Ayase began to have a coughing fit. "_I'm glad that you two finally get to meet, even though it's like this_."

Facing Akihito again, Ayase continued. "_I'm so sorry about everything Aki-kun._" She look towards Asami. "_You're my Aki-kun's boyfriend? Don't l-look so surprised, I just have a keen instinct about these things. Besides, I can see the red thread that binds you two. You better take good care of my Aki-kun, or I'll haunt you until you die._" The strong will that this woman possessed to say what needed to be said was truly admirable to Asami. He could see how she and his kitten were friends. "I have no doubts about that." He replied.

Ayase moved to face forward, having one last fit. "_My pup and best..friend together finally... I couln't ask...for..._"

The life left Ayase's eyes. Her smile did not.

"Ayase?...Ayase?!... AYASE!" Akihito cried. His shouts of sorrow and frustration quickly joined be Yamainu's own anguished wails. Asami could only stoically remain silent. Offering a prayer and thanks to the fallen alpha female.

*~*~Roughly 2 Hours Later~*~*

"Yamada-sama's men have finished with the bomb defusing. They and Saito-sama's men are starting to go over what is theirs and what is not." Kirishima reported to his boss. The other Yakuza leaders who were robbed would be over soon to collect their stolen goods to. Asami's men could have handled the bomb as well, but there was no denying that Boss Yamada had the better bomb squad. Besides, he had given some of them the task to escort the remaining Pack members, with the exception of Yamainu and the one named Rindou, to a safe house until he could help clear their names with his fellow Yakuza.

Asami was standing outside his limo, giving his kitten and the-HIS puppy a moment alone. Akihito the father? THAT was something he, Asami Ryuich, _NEVER_ saw coming.

Speaking of papa-Aki; After Ayase's body had been removed, Akihito had enveloped Yamainu -his daughter- into his arms and had refused to let her go. Not that it seemed that the child had minded. She had clung just as much to Akihito -her dad. Asami didn't even pretend to know what the future had in store for himself when it came to those two. All Kirishima knew was that no matter what, whether the girl went to live with other relatives or Akihito somehow convinced Asami-sama to let her live with them, Yamainu was going to be a permanent fixture in his and the rest of Asami's men's lives...

Kami-sama have mercy on them all.

The door to the limo opening had both men turning to face Akihito. A quick glance inside showed that Yamainu had cried herself to sleep. The three men were quiet for a few moments. "Asami." "Yes Akihito?" "... I think I know where Shishio went." The fact that Akihito had said that with a blank face and an equally emotionless voice gave both men the chills. "And? Where is he?" "I want to be the one to take him down." "Aki-" "Do NOT argue with me about this Asami Ryuichi. Shishio is **MINE** to finish."

There was more silence. Asami didn't know what his kitten was thinking, but there was no way he could stop him this time. It was best to just give his boy his blessing. With some conditions of course.

"I want Kirishima, Souh, and myself there for when you face him." "Fine, so long as we can bring Rindou with us and you leave Kenji with Yamainu." "Deal. Now where is Shishio?" 'I think he went to the last place that he and I raced." "And why is that?" "History." Akihito would not elaborate further. But Asami WILL get all of the details later. At least the fire was back in his boy's eyes.

Akihito walk to where Rindou was standing, just looking at the place that he had considered home. "Hey Rindou." "Yeah Akihito?" "I need a car. I'm going after that bastard." Rindou stared at his old friend. Then he smiled. "Follow me then."

The two of them, plus Asami, walked back into the garage. All the way in the back, in an out of the way corner, was a vehicle covered in a white tarp. Rindou removed the tarp to reveal a modified 1999 Honda Civic. It was mostly dark blue, almost black, with a painting of a snarling white wolf on the hood.

It was Beowulf back from the dead.

"Took Ayase a long time, but she finally finished restoring this old thing. Always said that when you got your memory back the first thing you'd want to do is race. And that nothing else would do for you but you old partner Beowulf."

* * *

A show of hands of how many of you hate me now? Wow. That many, huh? I'M SO SORRY! OTL

Please understand that I had planed this from the very beginning. OTL


End file.
